New Yorkers can breathe a sigh of relief after socialist Democrat Tiffany Cabán gave up her bid for Queens district attorney.
Cabán is a hardcore democratic socialist who planned to bring a progressive, Marxism-informed approach to criminal justice in Queens. She was backed by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
“This campaign may be over, but the movement does not stop,” she said at a press conference Tuesday night. “We are just getting started.”
Cabán concedes defeat
When Cabán declared herself the winner — it turns out too soon — of the Democratic primary weeks ago, her election “victory” was hailed as the next step in a far-left revolution rolling through New York state. Cabán was expected to join the ranks of Ocasio-Cortez and state senator Julia Salazar (D), both young progressive women who defeated incumbents backed by the establishment.
But in the end, Cabán didn’t have the votes to see it through. The favored candidate of the Queens party machine, Melinda Katz (D), pulled ahead with a slim 60 vote lead.
“We terrified the Democratic establishment,” Cabán said. “We showed [that] you can run on a boldly decarceral platform,” she added referring to her criminal justice reforms. “You don’t have to play by the old rules.”
Cabán initially appeared to beat Katz in June by about 1,000 votes. But things turned around when the Board of Elections counted absentee and provisional ballots. Cabán fought to challenge invalidated ballots in court, but it wasn’t enough to clear a 60-vote gap. The Board of Elections declared Katz the primary winner last Monday.
“To every young person, to every woman, to every person of color, to every Queer person, every single human being who was inspired by the campaign we built—you are next. And I promise, I will be the first one knocking doors for you,” Cabán said.
“Woke” prosecutor defeated
Cabán’s rise alarmed conservatives like Tucker Carlson and the New York Post, which urged Queens residents to stop her. Critics were worried about Cabán’s radical “decarceral” agenda, which mixed criminal justice with political, social justice ideology.
Among Cabán’s plans: legalize prostitution, close down Riker’s Island prison, and shorten sentences for violent felons. At first, Cabán’s apparent victory was seen as the next advancement of a wave of “woke prosecutors” around the country, many of whom have been backed by billionaire George Soros. Cabán was apparently no exception.
“There is still so much work to be done here in Queens —and you better believe I’m going to keep fighting. We need to end solitary confinement, reform our parole system, repeal 50-A, and break the cycle of mass incarceration,” she said.
This is bad news for the Sanders left. New Yorkers, at least for now, can breath a sigh of relief that sixty votes kept a straight-up Marxist from becoming an influential prosecutor.
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